Over the past couple of weeks, there has been a Doodle Fiesta going on in a little part of the internet. This internet-based event was built upon the GillyMac Doodle Challenge that ran for 6 weeks over the Summer. In the Summer over 150 doodle novices put pencil to paper and over 6 weeks learnt 30 different doodles and many went on to follow my lead and sew them up into pictures. The success of the doodle challenge meant that nobody wanted to leave it until next August for another challenge, and so the October (two weeks) Doodle Fiesta idea was born.

The reason we are doodling is to improve our understanding of doodle shapes so that the doodling movement becomes effortless. This takes time and practise, but once you have a few doodles learnt well, applying them using the sewing machine and darning foot is far far easier. The end goal is to increase your repertoire of free motion patterns which you feel secure in applying to your quilts.

For the Doodle Fiesta Event, instead of learning new doodles, I wanted to share how the same doodles (learnt in the Summer) could be grouped to provide a totally different look. For each of six days last week, a new doodle group was published and the doodlers got busy practising them. For this week, they are sewing up those doodle groups with great success.

The key points which have been learnt over the Doodle Fiesta.

Doodles can be combined into groups and layers to provide more interest than a single doodle.

Grouping doodles of different intensities works best eg. avoid using all doodles with lines close together or far apart, instead using a mix works well

Groups and layers are made up of the doodles you know. Whilst they look complicated they can be broken down into known parts.

Creating shapes to doodle within and around adds a simple new element to showcase your doodles from.

Doodling is free and provides the BEST training for free motion sewing – keep doodling

Our next doodle meet-up will be motifs for Christmas… nothing complicated … single line doodle shapes that can be learnt and used on paper or on fabric ~ this will start on 10th December and run for 5 days. Everybody is welcome to join – watch out on this blog, subscribe to the GillyMac YouTube Channel or ideally join our facebook group – ‘GillyMac Doodle Challenge 2018‘.